HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Central boys fall to Lubbock Coronado

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The Central High School boys basketball team played like its playoff life depended on it Friday night.

The Bobcats came out on fire shooting themselves to a 13-point lead late in the third quarter over second-place Lubbock Coronado.

It was what happened in the final quarter-plus that will leave the Bobcats in a must-win mode if they hope to make their second-straight trip to the playoffs as Central fell 68-63 on senior night at Babe Didrikson Gym.

After Central had staked itself to a 54-41 lead with 90 seconds to play in the third, the Mustangs responded with a 20-3 run that erased the seven-point hole they were in and gave them a 61-57 lead with 2:59 to play.

Trey Culver drove the run, scoring nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer to pull the Mustangs within a point and send the large visiting contingent into a frenzy.

The crowd from Lubbock paired with the largest Central crowd of the season made for a packed gym that had the district game feeling like much more as the Bobcats' lead dwindled.

"If we would have weathered the run a little bit better, made a few shots when we had to and gotten a few stops when we had to it would've been a different outcome," Central head coach Jaime Boswell said. "They are a very good ball club. They are seasoned veterans just like us and it came down to them making more plays than us."

Coronado dropped another 3-pointer with 3:35 to play to take its first lead and the Mustangs never trailed again, finishing the game on a 27-9 run.

"We finally got a few things to drop and we scored back-to-back-to-back," Coronado head coach Randy Dean said. "We got some stops on successive possessions on the defensive end and that let us get back into it in the fourth quarter. Once we got the lead it was a great back-and-forth game."

Zach Whitlock scored four points late to keep Central close and Rey Pedersen nailed a pair of free throws to pull the Bobcats within one at 64-63 with 1:18 remaining, but Coronado finished the home team off with the last four points from the stripe after forcing them to foul.

With 10 seconds to play Brock Barger had a chance to pull Central within a point, but his contested layup missed the mark and he was forced to foul Devonte Hutchens.

The final nine minutes of the game were vastly different than a first half which saw Coronado desperately trying to hang on as the Bobcats were hitting from all over the floor.

"For a long time it was like we were doing anything just to try to stay in the game," Dean said. "We knew Central would come out with a lot of urgency with the situation with the playoffs being within their reach. They shot the ball well and played with a lot of energy all night. We were just able to hang around."

Senior KeVann Coney not only piloted the Bobcats' attack from the point, but was scoring almost at will, hitting for 15 of his 23 points in the first half — including three triples.

Central jumped ahead 10-2 and controlled the game as the Mustangs converted several three-point plays to keep the game from getting out of hand.

Coney dropped a step-back 3-pointer with 10 seconds to play that pushed Central in front 42-31, only to see Hutchens drain an NBA-range triple as the first-half buzzer sounded.

Central extended their lead to 54-41 late in the third on a jump stop tear drop shot from Adrian Neira, but it was the last shot before Coronado's 20-3 run that took over the game.

With the loss, Central dropped a half-game behind both Abilene High and Tascosa, which both won their games Friday.

The Bobcats do not play Tuesday and finish the season with back-to-back games in Midland.

"Our kids have to believe that we can win our last two games," Boswell said. "It is not going to be easy, but if we play like we did tonight, we will have a chance.

"We can't worry about everyone else. We just have to take care of ourselves, do what we do, and go win two games on the road."